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attack-surface.md

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Attack Surface Analysis for dioxuslabs/dioxus

Attack Surface: WASM/JavaScript Interop Serialization Vulnerabilities

  • Description: Vulnerabilities introduced during the serialization and deserialization of data between Rust/WASM and JavaScript via wasm-bindgen. Incorrect handling of data types or untrusted data can lead to exploits.
  • Dioxus Contribution: Dioxus applications heavily rely on wasm-bindgen for interacting with the browser's JavaScript environment. This interop layer is a critical point where vulnerabilities can be introduced if data handling is not secure.
  • Example: A Dioxus application receives user input in JavaScript, passes it to WASM for processing, and then back to JavaScript for DOM manipulation. If the serialization/deserialization process doesn't correctly handle special characters or data types, it could lead to injection vulnerabilities when the data is used in JavaScript (e.g., DOM-based XSS).
  • Impact: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), data corruption, potential code execution in the browser depending on the nature of the vulnerability.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers:
      • Strict Data Type Handling: Carefully define and enforce data types during wasm-bindgen interop. Use appropriate data structures and validation on both Rust and JavaScript sides.
      • Input Sanitization: Sanitize all user-controlled data before passing it between WASM and JavaScript, especially when dealing with strings or complex data structures.
      • Secure Serialization Libraries: If using custom serialization, ensure the libraries are secure and well-vetted. Prefer using well-established and maintained libraries.
      • Code Reviews: Thoroughly review code involving wasm-bindgen interop for potential serialization/deserialization vulnerabilities.
    • Users: Keep browser and application updated. Users have limited direct mitigation for these developer-side vulnerabilities.

Attack Surface: Unsafe Rust Usage in WASM Context

  • Description: Memory safety vulnerabilities arising from the use of unsafe Rust blocks within the Dioxus application or its dependencies, which can be exploited from the WASM environment.
  • Dioxus Contribution: While Dioxus itself encourages safe Rust, developers might use unsafe blocks for performance optimizations or when interacting with external libraries. If these unsafe blocks are not carefully managed, they can introduce memory safety issues exploitable from WASM.
  • Example: An unsafe block in a Dioxus component or a dependency crate introduces a buffer overflow vulnerability. An attacker could craft malicious input that, when processed by the WASM application, triggers the buffer overflow, potentially leading to code execution or denial of service.
  • Impact: Memory corruption, code execution, denial of service, information disclosure.
  • Risk Severity: Critical to High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers:
      • Minimize unsafe Usage: Avoid unsafe Rust blocks whenever possible. If necessary, carefully audit and document the unsafe code.
      • Memory Safety Tools: Utilize Rust's memory safety features and tools like miri and fuzzing to detect memory safety issues in unsafe code.
      • Code Reviews and Security Audits: Thoroughly review and audit code containing unsafe blocks, especially in security-sensitive areas.
      • Dependency Audits: Audit dependencies for unsafe code and known memory safety vulnerabilities.
    • Users: Keep the application and browser updated. Users rely on developers to address these vulnerabilities.

Attack Surface: Event Handler XSS in Dioxus Components

  • Description: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities arising from improperly handling user input within Dioxus component event handlers, leading to the injection of malicious scripts into the DOM.
  • Dioxus Contribution: Dioxus components use event handlers to respond to user interactions. If these handlers directly render user-controlled data into the DOM without proper sanitization, it can create XSS vulnerabilities within the Dioxus application context.
  • Example: A Dioxus component has an input field and an event handler that directly renders the input value into another part of the DOM using rsx!. If a user enters <script>alert('XSS')</script> in the input field, this script could be executed when the component re-renders.
  • Impact: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), leading to session hijacking, cookie theft, redirection to malicious sites, and other client-side attacks.
  • Risk Severity: High
  • Mitigation Strategies:
    • Developers:
      • Input Sanitization: Sanitize all user input before rendering it into the DOM within Dioxus components. Use appropriate escaping or sanitization libraries.
      • Content Security Policy (CSP): Implement a strong Content Security Policy to mitigate the impact of XSS vulnerabilities, even if they exist in the application code.
      • Secure Rendering Practices: Use Dioxus's features and best practices to ensure secure rendering and avoid directly embedding unsanitized user input into the DOM.
      • Regular Security Testing: Perform regular security testing, including XSS testing, on Dioxus applications.
    • Users:
      • Use browser extensions that can help mitigate XSS attacks (e.g., NoScript, uMatrix, browser built-in XSS filters - though these are less reliable).
      • Keep browser updated to benefit from the latest security features and patches.